Please Consider Helping Out Mary

Regular readers know Mary, so does USA Today now, she has been a reader and contributor here for some time. She has given permission for me to post this email with her contact information. Please consider helping her out if you can. They are real people with a real problem.

I realize many people need help right now, for many reasons. But Mary is a friend of sorts and so I am passing this along. Please click here for several flood images hosted by Steel. Ed is already helping out, too. - Dan

Hi Dan,

I am emailing me so that you can help me if you can. You have so many contacts to other bloggers and newsfeeds. Please send this email out to all the places you think that can be of some assistance to me and my disabled husband. We cannot live like this and all doors have been slammed in our face. We have spiders all over the area down there and big roach bugs coming in from the outside and other critters running around. Before this happened we were just moving right along.

I worked so hard everyday and all of what we had going for us is lost. In time I am sure this will be all behind us but we cannot do it alone. My husband is disabled and all we have is his social security every month and I worked the business I had built on Ebay. We were not getting rich but we were able to pay the bills.

I have called every place I know and after 7 days now there are no answers to help for us or any of the other victoms of this disaster. I have talked til I cannot talk anymore. I have lost my voice. Today the REDCROSS came by and gave us $75.00 for food as we lost all our food and they left cleaning supplies.

I will do my best to clean what I can when I am very limited to how long I can stand on my feet as I too have a medical problem myself. My plate cannot get any fuller. Its overflowing now. I am grateful for the RED CROSS doing what they could do to help.

Every little bit helps. We have lived in our house for 17 years this month and nothing even close has ever happened like this. We did not have flood insurance. We were not in an area where it is available we were told years ago.

Any help anyone is abler to offer us in the way of money for repairs,food, family room furniture, computer,scanner, printer, office furniture, a car, food, manpower and or materails to rebuild and repair the downstairs, air conditioner & heating unit, carpet, paint baseboards, sheetrock, whatever. Please post this anywhere and get the word out for us. CHURCHES or any other orginizations you know of.

If anyone can and wants to send money they can mail it to :

Mary Anne & Tom Lunsford

5851 Brookside Drive S.E.

Mableton, Georgia 30126

or they can contact us at: 770-694-6499

If they want to use Paypal.com to send money the name to send it to is ManneLun@yahoo.com

I do not care if it is only $1.00. Anything at this point will be much appreciated. Any and all disclosure of how anything is used will be documented for anyones review that wants it. I have never asked anyone for anything in my entire 56 years but I am not too proud to ask now.

Here is a copy of the full article that the AP did when they interviewed us on the day it happened. Other articles on the net were cut I noticed but this one tells it best.

I will remain as always,

Mary Anne Lunsford

Comments

[MrsJimiHendrix]

dan

that was so kind of you to post this

you are a real class act

[RealPotential]

I think you're a *gem* too, Dan! :)

[peachstate]

Is that a dead cat in that picture?

[Ed Driscoll]

Looking at the close-up view, I think it's a stuffed or rubber toy cat, Peachstate.

[Wet Back]

Interesting 2 cars in the drivway, I wish I had a bicycle, picture of a caese of whisky, all I can afford is a fifth, time stamped photos from year 2000 hmmm

[stacy]

why do people keep re-building their homes where they know this can happen? just a thought.

[!]

Good morning. This is the real Mary Anne Lunsford. I thank Dan so very much for posting our plea for help.
I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you in advance to any of you out their that can help us in some small way.
In reading some of the remarks above, this morning I must say,
PEACHSTATE....
the white thing in the floor is not a dead animal, it is a stuffed toy that my dog totes around.
WET BACK....When I took the batteries out of my camera to put new ones in , the date stamp goes back to default, I can assure you the pictures are MONDAY , JULY 11, 2005 and they are real !!!
Go on the net and type in just my name and you will get thousands of hits. The associated press came out to my house and neighborhood 2 times the day this happened, so I can assure you the pics are real and this did not happen in 2000.
I have lived in my house for 17 years and never once has any water got in my house. I do not live in a flood plain. The drainage system for this neighborhood up the way gave way and collapsed. It was because of that the water from the rains from Dennis had no where to go but to accumulate down hill where I as well as 11 others that were affected live. And....we do not drink and a whiskey box to store something in is all that is ! Yes what is left of our truck is in the yard and a car that was totally submerged is history now. The truck did crank when the water receded. It filled up the floorboards to right below the seat. The car water level got above the seats right below the steering wheel.

STACY.....As I mentioned above I did not live in a flood plain. I have lived here 17 years. The most water any of us that live in this neighborhood was water in the streets from excessive rain.
I hope I have convinced you doubters that this is very real and I did nothing wrong to cause this. Mother nature is NOT my friend anymore !!
Any and all help no matter how small is greatly appreciated.
Thank you all !!
~Mary Anne Lunsford

[stacy]

mary- i wasn't trying to doubt you or blame you, but it really bugs me how so many people have this happen on a yearly basis and they rebuild and alot of that comes from the fed gov relief that the tax payers pay for, so that it is what i was referring to. looks like a mess and i wish you good luck in getting your home back in order....stacy

[realitybased]

Dan, FEMA should be able to help. They can provide temporary housing and monetary assistance.

FEMA should have their 800# available through the county Mary lives in. The Salvation Army is much more helpful than the RedCross, btw.

[Cindi in PA]

Realitybased,

FEMA, don't count on that helping out too much.
Have you ever heard stories from folks helped by FEMA?

Mary,
I am so sorry that you and your husband are going through this. I can not begin to imagine, I am sure the pictures don't show the half of it.

I also hope, those able to help out in some way do so, I know I sure as hell couldn't do it on my own either.

[PoorPaulaNNJ]

Just knowing there is ONE person in the world like Dan makes it a much better world in my opinion. The only way it could be any better would be if Dan had a HUGE family comprised of similiarly good-moraled, descent, honest, caring, and thoughtful individuals.
Take care, Dan; and thank you for epitomizing the good people have to offer.

[!]

Cindi in PA...THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH !!
also....
FYI
Fema is not going to help any one in the state of Georgia that was affected by the destruction of Dennis. Beleive me when I tell you I have called every number possible to try and get help.
I am still calling as we speak. All avenues thus far are not in our favor. I have called the Salvation Army today. Will see what they can do to help me. As I have said anything, anything, will help as we have no means of taking care of this. All our savings were exhausted long ago with DRS. and hospital care when my husband became ill with his life threatning condition.
We have had so many setback in the last few years.
I will continue to post updates in this forum.

I am grateful to everyone !! I will not forget !
Sincerely, Mary Anne Lunsford

[michele in bham]

Mary, if there are some Independent Baptist churches in your area or county they would probably be happy to get a group together to come out and help you clean up.

Also, news reports verify what Mary is saying.

http://www.wsbtv.com/weather/4734444/detail.html

[Paulo]

Hello Mary!

I have been in some dreadful situations before, Hurricane's Inkii in Hawaii, Isabel down south, two tornadoes, and torrential down pours whilst living in Panama; however, I have NEVER been through what you and yours are going through for such a length of time.

I am so sorry that you and your husband are going through this. I cannot begin to imagine, the conditions on a day-to-day basis. You have always been so very, very kind to me in all of your communiques back and forth on Dan's magnificent site. You have always made me feel special.

Now it's my turn...

Livestrong! You are in the minds and hearts of the,

Paulo's

[Adele]

Dear Mary, I read where you stated this 'has never happened to you before' so any statements pertaining to why people keep building in areas that flood does not apply to you, some of us do realize this. I feel very bad for you & wish you weren't so faraway or I would be over here in a heartbeat, pajamas & all w/ friends to help. I just told me son yesterday how I've been reading so many articles which state people never thought this would happen to them in various tragedies. It's kind of scary. All of us should consider what dangers we may face one day & try to be more supportive of ine another whether it be words of support & kindness to material things. Please stay strong & remember you do have friends out here that want to see you make it thru this.

[R Nelson]

Mary, So sorry to see this unfortunate mess. I happen to be in the Insurance Industry, just curious, does your home have a sump pump? I assume that you have Homeowners Insurance.

[Alex]

I wish I could send you more than $5 but I am putting that in the mail to you today. Instead of asking questions, why can't people just put a fucking dollar in the mail and help this couple out? Too many Americans are greedy a-holes.

[Andrea]

Mary,

I posted your info as a bulletin on my myspace.com website. It will be sent to everyone on my blogger list, hopefully some can help you out.

Good luck,
Andrea

[!]

R.Nelson, yes we have Home Owners insurance but if you do not have flood insurance you are screwed, so to speak. We were never able to buy it as we were told we were not in a flood zone.
They will sell it to us now. Too late now. !!
I am a fighter.!! I will not stop my campaign to get straigthened out here. Then, I will buy a mountain and built on top of it. LOL.
My luck...the mountain will cave in.
Thanks to anyone that can do anything to have orginizations call me are come to see us.
Anything helps at this point !!
Thank you , thank you, thank you.!! For all your comments and help whatever it is. !!!:O)

[R Nelson]

Mary, I understand Homeowners coverage is limited-That's why I asked if you had a sump pump. As an example, if you had a sump pump and the power was out and the house flooded- you might have coverage.

[Cindi in PA]

Dang Alex, you can't say the "f" word here lol, but you are right about that.

[Rob]

FYI. There is typo in your paypal link.

[R Nelson]

Someone needs to inform Dan that he needs to remove the comments link so that no question can be posed here. Does that work for you Alex?

[Terri]

Mary, I am so sorry this has happened to you and your family. I feel for you even though I've never ever been through anything like that. I will be mailing you some money (don't know how much), but I will get it in the mail. Dan, this is very nice of you to do for a friend. Thanks for letting us know about Mary's crisis.

Mary, I wish you and your family the best.

Take care and keep your head up!

Terri

[!]

No typo in my paypal.com

MANNELUN@yahoo.com is correct

Do not know why you are having trouble.

[michele in bham]

Mary, I just tried to send money via paypal and it says that there is no account at that name. Double check it and get back with me through EBay if you can.

My id is Lawofkindness.

[lin]

If not in a flood plain area I believe Homeowners will cover more than you think. And FEMA will help since the Gov has asked for disaster assistance. Check your car insurance about your car. Some of the insurance companies are working with the worst damage first. The people that don't have a home left at all. The water has subsided now I would think, if people are comeing in like the Red Cross. If you have medical problems neighborhood churchs and local governments will assist. Red Cross will assist with more than food. It does take a little time I have friends that lost their gulf homes in Ivan and are just getting things back together. But if lots of people send 1.00/5.00 each you could come out pretty good with the $5,000.00 property you lost. Have your neighbors come up with a way to get their insurance to help them.

[question?]

If I send you some money, is the mail man really going to be able to deliver to you? Unless he is going by boat, I don't know how you will get you the mail.

[Rob]

If you hit the link it goes to mannellun@yahoo.com (two Ls) , not Mannelun. I had to type it in manually and then it worked.

[!]

HELLO,

Dan put that link there. He has a small l and a large L
IT CAN BE EITHER WAY BUT HE HAS ONE OF EACH.

It should be

MANNELUN@YAHOO.COM

I HAVE EMAILED HIM AND TOLD HIM

THANKS TO EVERYONE. !!

[Dan]

Mary - That's the way it came to me - I changed it to one L - hope that's right.

[!]

Dan, thank you for correcting that. :O)

question?
I saw your comment and THE WATER HAS GONE DOWN TO STREET LEVEL AGAIN. The mail is running fine. My mailbox is a little damp but I am going to clean it up today. :O)
All is well with the mailbox. THE boats that were here are gone now. :O)

[weet weet]

how awful! wish i could help but UI just ran out!

are any/all pets ok?

[Kent]

If you've read this post and can't even send one dollar to these people today or tomorrow, you absolutely suck! Period.

[!]

weet weet
Yes I have pets. I have 3 dogs and 2 cats.
I have a golden girl, a girl basset hound, and a benji dog girl. Two tiger cats, both boys, one yellow tabby and the other is a dark tabby.
All of our pets are indoor animals and are just fine. Lucy is the hero. She let us know something was wrong. !! :O)
A neighbor across the street that also got flooded had to be taken out by boat but not before he jumped his fence and rescued a dog in the next yard (that someone had tied out for the morning ) from drowning. It all happened in a matter of minutes.
I made the news reporters do a special interview with him when they came here because of his love for animals and how he rescued the little dog.
~MARY ANNE~
Ps...I will respond to all of you that are trying to help me when i get some of the things I am having to do. Taking a break right now so I could get me something cold to drink. Its so hot today. The air is not working. Unit was destroyed to only 25 % useage. The coils were all mashed up.

[aukitty]

Mary Anne-

I sent something via Paypal earlier today. I see that some have had trouble with that. Please let me know if you received or not. If not, I will check into it and resend.

[Sunny]

Dan, thanks so much for posting this. It is really thoughtful of you.
Mary Anne, I'm so sorry this happened to you and your husband. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

[!]

HI, THIS IS ME
Mary Anne

I am grateful to all that have responded to my plea for help. I can not say thank you enough!
In time I will send you all and email and thank you personally. I am just totally exhausted and in the evenings I just fall asleep sitting up.
There is so much to do it will probably take a year it seems to deal with all this. I always felt so sad when I would see everyone on TV over the years go through this sort of thing but I never knew it woudl happen to me.
I will keep everyone up to date and will send emails. I am just so tired. I am the only one that can try to do all this. My husband is not well at all. He does what he can when he can.
Its an enormous task.
At least today we are getting a little more air in the house to cool it. Its 95 outside and with no air it has been brutal these last few days.
A lot of the duct work in the basement that feeds into the upstairs had fallen down due to all the flood water and dampness. It was reattached and secured so air flow is coming in. Not as it normally does but much much better. I am just grateful to have some rather than none.

~Mary Anne~

[(((( MrsJimiHendrix ))))]

MARY YOU HAVE A FAN CLUB!!

[!]

michele in bham , THANK YOU FOR POSTING THAT LINK TO THE ARTICLE. i PRINTED IT OUT TO ADD TO MY FILE .
Sunny,THANK YOU TOO!
aukitty, log into your paypal and see if it is still there unclaimed. if so resend to ManneLun@yahoo.com
Terri ,thank you...
lin. homeowners said NO. :o(
Andrea, THANK YOU SOOO MUCH..
R Nelson, THANK YOU TOO !!
realitybased, THANK YOU !!

if i missed anyone thanks to all. !!
~MARY ANNE~

[!]

Hello, This is me ! I was thinking about all this that happened over two years ago and you know we never fully recovered. Still have three rooms that have just sat there. I never got anyone to help me finish cleaning up. It was awful what you had to do to get help. I gave up. But you know what ??
THOSE 3 ROOMS CAN SIT THERE FOR ANOTHER 2 1/2 YEARS. I WAS JUST Dignosed with Breast cancer, Stage 2 at least on Ocotber 23rd. Now that I have little mutants that have set up residence in my body I tell you what ! I am gonna fight those little creeps. When my Dr. gets done with them they will kicked to the curb and run over by a mack truck ! Funny how life is. You have to deal with one crisis and then there pops up another. I have heard the book A PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE IS A GOOD BOOK. Maybe I should read it.
I hope if anyone reads this and you are a women or if you have women friends or family members you will please please encourage them to be checked for this disease on a regular basis. Do not necessarially depend entirely on a mamogram. They are not fool proof. I went to the Dr. on May 11th 2007 for a routine check. Nothing wrong. All clear. I found this in August myself. Went back to the Dr. in September and it has been a whirlwind since.
November 5th will be the first appointment that I will have since seeing my Dr.and him giving me the news. I will be going to an Ocologist. My Dr. wants to do Chemo first and then do surgery. Chemo will shrink the tumor. It is 7/8 inch the Dr. said. I also have lymph node involvement. Two biopsy's were done, one on the tumor itself (Core Biopsy) and a Biopsy done with a needle into the Lymph gland under your arm that was enlarged and that fluid was positive too. Dr. said that if the Chemo skrunk the tumor like he hoped it would that he would remove the tumor and surrounding good tissue and 5 to 6 lymph glands and would send them to the lab for testing.
Just wanted to say hello. I do still come here and read. You were all very kind to me when the floods came and I will never forget that.
All I ask of you is that you say a prayer or if you do not pray then wish me well as I go down this journey. I probably want start Chemo right away. They have to do a lot of tesets like MRI'S, Bloodwork, PET SCANS, CAT SCANS, BONES SCANS AND SUCH.
And another thing. Georgia is a great state. With no insurance and this happening, I am covered through orginizations associated with Cancer and my state and I think there are some Federal funding. The Dr. they use for their patients is a regular Dr. with Regualr patients that do have insurance but he signed up with the programs to help out his state and he gets reduced monies but has not problem with doing his part. That my friends is a good thing. I country still has some good folks in it. That in itself is refreshing.
Take care all. If you would like for me to come here and post how things are going or my story I will be happy too. Maybe in some small way it will help others. I have the faith that my cancer will go into remission for a long time to come. I have to stay focussed and believe.
That's the only way.
BLESS YOU ALL NOW AND ALWAYS.
Mary Anne